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The myths and legends
of Scotland are full of what is called "local colour". They afford
us not only glimpses of ancient times and of old habits of thought
and life, but also of the country itself at different times of the
year. In the winter season the great mountain ranges are white with
snow and many inland Iochs are frozen over, but along the west
coast, which is washed by the warm surface waters of the Atlantic
and bathed in mild moist breezes from the south-west, there may be
found sheltered and sunny spots where wild flowers continue to
bloom. The old people believed that somewhere in the west the spirit
of Spring had its hiding-place, and they imagined this hiding-place
to be a green floating island on which the sun always shone and
flowers were always blooming. During the reign of Beira, Queen of
Winter, the spirit of Spring, they thought, was always trying to
visit Scotland, and they imagined that Beira raised the storms of
January and February to prolong her reign by keeping the grass from
growing. Beira was regarded as a hard and cruel old woman, and the
story of her exploits is the story of the weather conditions in
winter and early spring. She rouses the dangerous whirlpool of
Corryvreckan, she brings the snow, she unlooses the torrents that
cause rivers to overflow. According to folk belief, it was she who
formed the lochs and the mountains. In the days when the people had
no calendar, the various periods of good and bad weather were named
after the battles of Beira and the victories of the spirits of
sunshine and growth. Gaelic-speaking people still refer to certain
gales in February and March by their ancient names—the "whistling
wind", the "sweeper", and so on, as set forth in the second chapter.
On the northeast coast even those fisher folks, who are not Gaelic
speakers, still tell that the fierce southwesterly gales of early
spring are caused by the storm-wife whom they call "Gentle Annie".
This Annie may be the same old deity as Black Annis of
Leicestershire and Anu of Ireland, whose name lingers in the place
name, the "Paps of Anu", a mountain group in County Kerry. In
Scotland the story of the winter goddess, Beira, has a strictly
local setting. She is, in consequence, a local deity. Bride, the
lady of summer growth, is still remembered also, and there are
beautiful Gaelic songs about her.
Other stories have
likewise a local character. Those who know the west coast will be
familiar with the glorious transparency of the hill-surrounded lochs
in calm weather. When the old people saw the waters reflecting the
mountains and forests, the bare cliffs and the bright girths of
green verdure, they imagined a "Land-under-Waves" about which they,
of course, made stories. The "Northern Lights" (aurora borealis),
which are a feature of northern winters, also stirred their
imaginations. They called these vivid and beautiful streamers
"Nimble Alen" and "Merry Dancers", and believed they sometimes
danced and sometimes waged war. In the red-spotted green stones
called " blood stones " they saw the blood-drops of the wounded.
When the streamers are particularly bright a red cloud often appears
below them; this the old people called "the pool of fairy blood".
In like manner they
accounted for the restlessness of the waters of a strait between the
island of Lewis and the Shant islands by imagining that Blue Men
were always swimming up and down this haunt of theirs, trying to
sink boats and ships. As the Gaelic people have ever been great
lovers of poetry, they made the Blue Men poets, and told that they
spared those seafarers who were able to complete the half verses
they shouted to them, by way of challenge, for trial of skill. The
"Blue Men" are peculiar to Scotland, and especially to the
north-western area.
In other stories we
find female water spirits who wait at fords, threatening travellers
with disaster. They also could be thwarted by those who had the
necessary knowledge which made it possible for them to secure
protection.
Almost all the rivers
of Scotland were abodes of goddesses, but about many of them there
are no surviving stories. The character of a goddess was suggested
by that of a river. The goddess of the river Forth, for instance,
was "the deaf or soundless one", because the Forth is a
comparatively silent river; the goddess of the Clyde, on the other
hand, was "the purifying one", because the old people knew it as a
river which scoured the country it passed through, and carried much
mud and clay seaward when in flood.
Many old stories have
been lost, of course, and those which remain are mere fragments of
an ancient mythology. In different parts of Scotland there are
variations of legends, because the local conditions are of varying
character.
Readers may ask how
the stories of ancient beliefs happen to be preserved in Christian
times. One reason is because they are connected with place names;
another because certain of them were recorded centuries ago by early
writers. One of the early Scottish collectors of old legends and
poems was Sir James MacGregor, Dean of Lismore, who lived in the
sixteenth century. His manuscript volume is still in existence, and
the most of it can be read without difficulty. It is called "The
Dean of Lismore's Book ".
The greater number of
collected legends, however, have been taken down from reciters in
recent times. In the days when there were no books, poets and
story-tellers committed their compositions to memory. These they
repeated to their students, who in turn repeated them to others. In
this way poems and stories were handed down from generation to
generation. Even in our own day it is possible to find not a few
Gaelic-speaking men and women who can repeat compositions many
thousands of words in length which they have learned by rote. The
writer knew an old woman whose stories would have filled a volume
quite as large as this one. Some of the poems collected by the Dean
of Lismore in the sixteenth century were still repeated about a
generation ago, almost word for word, by old reciters in the
Highlands, certain of whom could neither read nor write.
Men and women able to
repeat popular poems and stories have always been greatly thought of
in the Gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland. On long, dark winter
nights it is still the custom in small villages for friends to
collect in a house and hold what they call a "ceilidh" (pronounced
kay'lee). Young and old are entertained by the reciters of old poems
and legendary stories which deal with ancient beliefs, the doings of
traditional heroes and heroines, and so on. Some sing, old and new
songs set to old music or new music composed in the mariner of the
old. In this way some of the ancient poems, stories, and music of
the early inhabitants of Scotland have been preserved till our own
times.
The wonder tales of
Scotland do not afford a very clear indication of the attitude of
worshippers towards their deities. So far as can be gathered, they
loved and admired some deities, especially those that brought them
good luck and plenty, and they hated and feared those deities who
were supposed to cause suffering and disaster. At the same time they
believed that there were mysterious Powers, or a Power, greater than
the gods and goddesses.
Beira, the winter
queen, might raise storms and bring snow and frost, but when the
spring season came on she could not prevent the grass growing or the
trees budding. The Powers which caused the seasons to change were
never named; they were not even given human attributes. When we
study the customs and search through the stories for traces of
religious beliefs and practices, we find that there were many
ceremonies, some of which still survive. The old people appear to
have been greatly concerned about the earth, the water supply, and
the weather. When they took oaths they swore by the earth. In one
old story, for instance, a hero is insulted and badly treated by his
enemies. He complains to his companions. "When", this story runs,
"he rehearsed to them the tale of his wanderings, and told of the
insults and of the bad treatment he had received, and the hardships
he had endured since they had separated, they lifted a little piece
of earth and they shouted 'Vengeance'." That is, they swore by what
was holiest to them. In various parts of Scotland there are earth
mounds which used to be sacred to the old people. They held regular
assemblies upon them, at which new laws were made and law-breakers
were judged. Religious ceremonies were also performed. When
Christianity was introduced, the sacred mounds and the lands
surrounding them were in many cases, taken over as church-lands. The
Gaelic name for "church-lands" is derived from the name of an earth
goddess, and rendered in English as "Navity" or "Navie". No doubt
Beira, who was a goddess of the mountains, lochs, and rivers, as
well as of the weather, had sonic connection with the earth spirit.
She kept herds of wild animals, like the Greek Artemis. At the same
time she found the "Powers", which caused the grass to grow, were
opposed to her when spring came on. The period of her reign was
limited to winter, and during winter the "Powers" favoured her.
The earth Power, or
Powers, may also have had control over the fairies who were usually
clad in green, which was a supernatural colour. It is still regarded
unlucky for ladies to wear green dresses. An old Scottish saying is:
A Graham in green
Should never be seen.
In Wales one of the
names of the fairies is Y Mamau, which means "The Mothers". It may
be the fairies represent the ancient group of "Earth Mothers" who
caused the grass to grow, the corn seeds to sprout in the earth, the
trees to bud, blossom, and bear fruit. The fairies are always
represented as busy workers; they teach human beings how to compose
music and make musical instruments, how to make implements and
weapons, and so on; and they sometimes assist them to spin and
weave, to sow seeds, to plough and to reap. The people made food
offerings to the fairies, who were very fond of meal. Mothers used
to put meal in children's pockets to protect them against the
fairies.
Certain animals were
connected with the earth spirit or spirits. One was the boar, and
there are references in Gaelic stories to a "green boar" and a
fierce "black boar". In the northern and southern Highlands there
long existed a prejudice against pork, because pigs were, it seems,
sacred animals. The devil is sometimes called the "Black Pig",
because the early Christians regarded the Pagan gods as demons.
Another sacred animal was the serpent. All winter long it slept
secure from storms and cold. When, however, Beira, the winter
goddess, was overthrown, and Bride, the goddess of growth, began her
reign, the serpent came forth from its winter abode. The people then
chanted a hymn, of which the following is a verse:-
To-day is the Day of
Bride,
The serpent shall come from his hole,
I will not molest the serpent,
And the serpent will not molest me.
The serpent was
sometimes called "Daughter of Ivor", and MacIvors were supposed to
be safe from attack by her and all other serpents. She was also
referred to as "noble queen". It is possible she was a form of the
Earth spirit in spring-time. Another verse of a Bride's Day hymn
is:-
The serpent will come
from the hole
On the brown day of Bride,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.
A white serpent was
supposed to give skill to physicians. A part of the body was cooked,
and he who first tasted the juice of the serpent obtained power to
cure diseases. This belief will be found in the story about Michael
Scott.
The salmon was a
sacred fish, and he who likewise first tasted the juice of a certain
salmon obtained the power to foretell events. When the first salmon
grilse of the season is caught, salmon fishers on the east coast
make merry and celebrate the event, as probably did their pagan
ancestors in ancient times. On several of the old standing stones of
Scotland there are drawings of salmon. Serpents are also depicted.
How did the old
people worship the earth and other spirits? The answer is that they
made offerings to them, and performed ceremonies to secure luck and
protect themselves against attack. Instead of prayers they used
magical verses. Various charms were repeated to cure diseases and
ward off trouble. Here is an extract from a charm against the "evil
eye":-
The eye that went
over,
And came back,
That reached the bone,
And reached the marrow,
I will lift from off thee
And the King of the Elements will aid me.
The person who
repeated the charm believed that the injurious influence of the
"evil eye" would be "lifted off" with the aid of the "King of the
Elements". We do not have any stories about this god. He is often
referred to, and is one of the vague Powers without a personal name.
On "Bride's Day", the
first day of the Gaelic Spring, offerings were made to earth and
sea. Milk was poured on the ground, and the fisher people made
porridge and threw it into the sea so that the sea might yield what
was sought from it—lots of fish, and also seaweed for fertilizing
the soil. In some parts of the Hebrides the sea deity to whom the
food offerings were made was called "Shony".
It will thus be seen
that the old stories are not only interesting as stories, but are
worthy of study as helping us to know something about the beliefs of
the people of olden time.
Certain stories
appear to be very ancient. It is possible that one or two have come
down from the Late Stone Age, which, in these islands, closed
probably about 3000 years ago. There are hints of very ancient
beliefs, for instance, in the story about "Finlay and the Giants".
The hero obtains a magic wand which transforms stone pillars into
human beings. It was believed by the old people that the spirit of
the dead entered the stone erected over a grave. Another story of
special interest is the one about "Heroes on the Green Isle". A
princess is confined in a tower, waiting for a hero to win her as
his bride by taking her down. A similar story is found in an ancient
Egyptian papyrus. It may be that the Scottish and Egyptian versions
of this legend came from the same source in remote times. A string
of Egyptian beads has been found in a grave near Stonehenge. It came
from Egypt about 3000 years ago, along the old trade routes. If
far-travelled wanderers, or traders, brought beads, they may also
have brought some stories. The ancient Egyptians had, like the
ancient folk of Scotland, a wonder tale about a floating island
which vanished beneath the waves.
Another interesting
Scottish story is "The Vision of the Dead". The woman who acts as a
nurse to a fairy child sees the spirits of the dead cutting corn. In
Egypt it was believed that the dead were thus employed in the
Paradise of Osiris, who was, among other things, a corn god.
The gods and
goddesses of Scotland were never depicted by sculptors like the gods
and goddesses of ancient Greece. They are not therefore so well
known. They would have been entirely forgotten long ago had not the
old bards sung songs about them, and the old story-tellers composed
"wonder tales", such as are retold in this volume from fragments
that survive.
Of special interest
at the present time are the references in some stories to "red
moss";. that is, the red "sphagnum" which was used to dress wounds.
Apparently the ancient people knew from experience that it had
cleansing and healing properties, and esteemed the red as superior
to green sphagnum. They also used tar water for skin troubles, and
to cure diseases they used certain herbs from which some modern-day
medicines are manufactured. |
